Recently a client (A.G.) came to me after he had been arrested and charged with possession narcotics. Normally, this is not a big deal for a criminal defense attorney. In A.G.’s case, he was not a United States citizen. He couldn’t plead guilty to a felony and do a drug program. His immigration lawyer told him this would have devastating effects on his immigration status.
We decided to set the case for trial. The prosecutor and the judge were very upset that AG didn’t want to plead guilty and they were likewise upset that I didn’t want to try and talk AG into pleading guilty. The prosecutor went so far as to say she “didn’t give a shit about my client’s immigration problems” and “the offer will never get any better than this”.
Well, the offer did get better. A lot better. The prosecutor could not locate one of its necessary witnesses for trial and had to dismiss their case completely.
My client was very happy with the result and the moral to the story is: Good things happen we real lawyers are prepared for trial.